Meet the worker-owners

Helen

Helen the worker-owner

Helen was born and raised in Minnesota. She has been interested in soil health and agriculture ever since her first farm job at age 14. Helen has been with Curbside Compost Cooperative since its founding in 2017, and primarily fills the roles of compost collector and bookkeeper within the business. Helen splits her time between CCC, chicken farming, and performing and teaching folk and bluegrass music. 

Bec

Bec the worker-owner

Bec was born and raised in southeastern PA and started backyard composting to help with their garden needs when they realized how much money could be saved by not throwing away their family’s organic waste. They relocated Northfield in 2021 soon joined Curbside Compost Cooperative as a worker-owner. When Bec is not hiking with Beefy the French bulldog, you can find them working outside in the garden or at an organic chicken farm.

Mikayla

Mikayla moved to Minnesota from Illinois in 2016 to study Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, and has stayed in the Twin Cities ever since. For Curbside Compost Cooperative, she manages the website, does some accounting work, and handles some customer service. Outside of CCC, Mikayla’s a freelance web developer, an avid biker, and a community organizer and educator.

Cliff

Cliff the worker-owner

Cliff is an organic farmer in a worker co-op, a union organizer, and a community/ climate justice organizer in addition to being a CCC worker-owner.

Grace

Grace the worker-owner

Grace is from Mankato and grew up composting in her backyard. She was confused when she learned not everyone else composted, and has loved bringing composting to the people every week since she became a worker-owner in 2018. When working, Grace is usually collecting compost, answering emails and calls, or doing the tech stuff needed to keep the co-op up and running.

A Brief History of Curbside Compost Cooperative

Curbside Compost Cooperative is a group of passionate people dedicated to finding local solutions to environmental and social issues. Our mission is to reduce waste filling up the Rice County landfill and lower local greenhouse gas emissions, while creating quality local jobs and providing an excellent service for our customers! We started collecting compost in the summer of 2017 after years of research and planning.

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About twice a year we’ll send you updates on what we’re doing, how we’re doing, and what we hope to do in the coming months and years. All curbside compost subscribers will receive this newsletter by default, so if you don’t subscribe to our composting service but still want the updates, sign up here!

    What is a Worker Co-op?

    We are a business owned, managed and run by the workers! This means each of us has equal say in the day-to-day operations and the long-term goals/directions of the co-op. We feel this is the best way to run our business because it means we are each invested in and responsible for the growth and sustainability of the co-op, and we as the workers know what is best for our workplace. You can read more about the benefits of worker co-ops here.